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By Rick Russo, Product Technical Advisor, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering*

Measuring equipment performance and productivity is essential for any industrial business that wants to maintain a competitive edge. Though there are a variety of methods to gauge results, one prevailing industry measure of productivity is Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

OEE is measured as a ratio of output at your plant compared to optimal output. There are three key factors that contribute to the OEE measurement: 

 

Availability x Performance x Quality = Overall Equipment Effectiveness

1. Availability represents how frequently a machine is available for its intended use. Availability can be affected by equipment failure, unplanned maintenance downtime, material shortages and machine changeover times.

Availability = Operating Time / Planned Production Time

2. Performance is a measure of speed loss. Performance loss can be measured by comparing the number of units that a particular machine is rated to produce per hour with the actual unit production per hour.

Performance = Ideal Cycle Time / (Operating Time/Total Pieces Produced)

3. Quality represents the amount of scrap material produced by a particular machine. Rejected materials, products that fall short of quality standards, and any items that require rework can all contribute to quality loss.

Quality = Good Pieces / Total Pieces

A single OEE value by itself is not very helpful, as the value simply indicates that equipment is experiencing productivity loss. So, how can you take advantage of OEE to boost productivity?

Of course, target percentages for overall equipment effectiveness will vary from one application to the next, as there are a number of variables that contribute to overall effectiveness.

By developing a trend, OEE can provide valuable insight into your operations, helping you to identify when a particular piece of equipment is wearing or highlighting areas where changes to personnel have a negative effect on overall efficiency.

*Excerpt from “Advancing productivity with overall equipment effectiveness” on Mobil.com. Read the rest of the article here.

McPherson Oil is an Authorized Mobil Distributor.